• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

ORDINES◆ MILITARES COLLOQUIA TORUNENSIA HISTORICA XX Yearbook for the Study of the Military Orders 2 0 1 5 ISSN (print) 0867-2008 / ISSN (online) 2391-7512 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/OM.2015.016 Generalprobe Burzenland. Neue Forschungen zur Geschichte des Deutschen Ordens in Siebenbürgen und im Banat , hrsg. v. Konrad Gündisch (Sieben- bürgisches Archiv. Archiv des Vereins für siebenbürgische Landeskunde, D.F., Bd. /0), Böhlau Verlag, Köln–Weimar–Wien 0567, 089 S., ISBN: =89-7-/60-065=/->. In September 4677 a two-day conference was held in Braşov, Romania (known as Brassó in Hungarian and Kronstadt in German), organised by the Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, marking the occasion of the F66th anniversary of the coming of the Teutonic Order to the area known as the Burzen- land in Transylvania. The conference was dedicated to the theme of the presence of the Teutonic Order in the region of the Eastern Carpathians from the 7Jth to the 7Kth centu- ries. As the area in question now belongs to different modern countries a number of medievalists and archaeologists from Hungary, Romania and Germany were invited to participate. The conference resulted in the publication of a collection of 7K articles (including 74 which are based on the papers presented at the con- ference), divided into five sections. The volume also includes an index of persons (pp. 4VW–4VF) and geographical locations (pp. 4VF–4[F) giving both German and modern placenames. The first section (‘The European Context’) includes three articles presenting the activities of the Teutonic Order on the frontier of 7Jth-century Transylva- nia within the regional, Central Eastern European context. The opening article by Thomas Wünsch (Passau), ‘Der Deutsche Orden als Wille und Vorstellung. Selbst- und Fremdkonstruktionen einer geistlich-weltlichen Korporation zwis- chen Ideologie und Politik’ (pp. 77–4[), only partially corresponds to the general theme of the volume as the author is mostly concerned with the social, mental and communication phenomena of the perception, understanding and presenta- tion of the Teutonic Order within the discourse between the Teutonic Order and its antagonists in the 7Wth and 7Kth centuries. Wünsch makes the claim that in the Middle Ages, when concepts of legitimisation were dominated by metaphys- ical considerations, little can be said about the legitimisation of individual states. He argues that the Teutonic Order is the exception to this phenomenon (p. 77). For this reason his aim is to focus on the external perceptions of the Order (Ger. Außenansicht ) and to confront these with the internal, self-perception within the Czasopismo jest wydawane na zasadach licencji niewyłącznej Creative Commons i dystrybuowane w wersji elektronicznej Open Access przez Akadmicką Platformę Czasopism www.apcz.pl © Copyright by Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, 2015 BOOK REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES 289 Order (Ger. Innenansicht ). He makes the following preliminary assumptions: (a) the image of the Teutonic Order depended on the interests of the perceiver; (b) from the fourteenth century onwards the original distinction between ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’ of the Order ceased to function due to constantly changing coa- litions and alliances; (c) ‘public opinion’ at that time was one of the dominant factors that shaped the Order’s policy. On the basis of these, Wünsch formulates the following claims: (a) the self-representation (Ger. Selbstdarstellung ) of the Teu- tonic Order depended to a large extent on public expectations; the definition of what the Order was supposed to be changed over time, and the Order had to act and react to these changing realities; (b) the notion of the threat to Poland and Lithuania posed by the Teutonic Order was construed for specific, political aims; (c) the images of the Order which were shaped by outsiders in the 7Wth and 7Kth centuries had secular undertones, which helped increase the Order’s potential for long-term existence. Indeed, these images influenced the perception of the Teu- tonic Order in the 7jth and 46th centuries (p. 7J). Throughout a large part of his discussion concerning the confrontation be- tween the Teutonic Order and the elite of the Polish kingdom in the first half of the 7Kth century, Wünsch distinguishes between Polish polemical writings and Polish political actions. The polemics written by intellectuals from Cracow em- phasised the religious nature of the Teutonic Order, while the policies of the Polish monarchs from the time of Władysław Łokietek onward emphasised the political character of the Order (p. 7K). The author notes that the territories controlled by the Teutonic Order developed features characteristic of a dominion only in the 7Jth century, after the creation of its power-base in Prussia. He also stresses the significant tension between the Order’s monastic vocation and its landhold- ing and political activities, pointing out that this tension became a problem for the Order in the 7W66s, when other states and political agents (especially the rul- ing elites of the Polish kingdom) began to perceive the Order only through its political role (p. 7V–7[). According to the author, the Teutonic Order answered the anachronistic polemics of the Polish side with equally anachronistic claims of legitimacy based on the ‘founding myth’ of the Order as a religious community pursuing its vocation of fighting pagans (pp. 7[–7F). Wünsch also points out (not quite consistently with his earlier claims) that the discourse between the Teutonic Order and the Polish ruling elites shifted from the religious to the ethical sphere in the first quarter of the 7Kth century. This discourse was no longer about what who practiced what religion, but rather about how religion was practiced and about how one should act (p. 7j). It would be better to see this as an additional dimen- sion of the original discourse, rather than a change of kind. 290 BOOK REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES With respect to the self-referential aspect of the Order’s image, the author argues that in the 7Kth century the Teutonic Order faced a dilemma: either to remain a monastic institution but risk being transferred out of Prussia into a differ- ent area, or to pursue a new vocation and a new form of legitimisation as a secular state (p. 46). Wünsch places the imperial policy of Sigismund of Luxembourg, which aimed to transfer the Order to the border of the Hungarian kingdom in order to fight the Turks, squarely in this context (pp. 47–4J). Sigismund’s treat- ment of the Order in terms of secular politics was apparent in his actions towards Lithuania, which he wished to elevate to the rank of kingdom. This was a serious threat to the legitimisation of the Teutonic Order’s rule in Prussia, and more so than the union between the Lithuania and the kingdom of Poland (pp. 4J–4W). Wünsch argues that although the plans to establish a kingdom of Lithuania did not come into effect, the Teutonic Order now risked the loss of respectability and credibility among policy makers elsewhere. It is not clear why the author attempts to extrapolate this phenomenon to the 7jth and 46th centuries by pointing out its nationalistic context (pp. 4K–4V). He provides little argument for this inter- pretation and gives no examples of such views in the 7[th and 7Fth centuries. Nevertheless, the thesis is interesting and is deserving of further research. The article closes with some philosophical considerations concerning the on- tological status of past realities, including the Teutonic Order. Following Arthur Schopenhauer, the author claims that the status of such past realities is only the product of imagination and ‘the will and presentation’ (p. 4V). This section seems scarcely relevant to the main argument, which focuses on the image and self-per- ception of the Teutonic Order. Philosophical considerations concerning the purely representative reality of the past seem unnecessary here and create a sense of artificial mannerism. The next article, ‘Terra Borza et ultra montes nivium. ( Ein gescheiterter Kirch- enstaat und sein Nachlaß )’ (pp. J6–JF), by Şerbana Papacostei (Bucharest) is more directly relevant to the main topic of the volume. The author gives an overview of the fourteen-year presence of the Teutonic Order in the Burzenland and its fun- damental role in the defeat of the Cuman state in the Danube region. Two of the author’s claims, based on his previous research, are especially interesting. First, the donation of the Burzenland in the south-eastern part of the Carpathian mountains to the Teutonic Order’s knights was the result of the active support of Andrew II, king of Hungary, in his crusading efforts against the Bulgarian Assenids who were in an alliance with the Cumans. They were a threat to the Latin Empire of Con- stantinople and thus curbing their political and military power was an important element in the crusading effort (pp. J7–J4). The second issue discussed by Pa- pacostei was the complete destruction of Cuman power by 7444, which allowed BOOK REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES 291 the Teutonic Order and the Hungarian monarch room for extensive expansion. After the Teutonic Order’s knights were transferred away from the Transylva- nian-Cuman border in 744K, Andrew II and his successors used this opportunity for significant territorial gain up until the Mongol invasion of 74W7–74W4. The creation of a diocesan structure and the incorporation of Western Cumania into the political sphere of the Hungarian monarchy through the adoption of the title of Rex Cumaniae created a new space for the political aspirations of the king of Hungary and his successors. In the mid-7Wth century, Louis I the Great was the first Hungarian monarch to return to power in this region after over a century of Mongol hegemony (pp.

Load more

  13

Copy Link